Easy Baked Snow Crab that cooks perfectly in 10 minutes while wrapped inside a foil packet! Each claw cracks easily in half, so you get big meaty chunks of crab every time.
Cooking Snow Crab used to be super intimidating for me. I would be so afraid of under or over cooking them.
Over the years I’ve tried cooking them every way possible and have finally figured out that baking them is the easiest.
I added 2 Snow Crab clusters to each large sheet of tin foil. You don’t want more than that in each foil pack because you want to keep them in a single layer and not overlapping each other, that way they cook evenly.
Then I brushed the Crab Legs with melted butter and garlic.
Sprinkled some Old Bay Seasoning over the Crab (this seasoning really gives the Crab a delicious flavor!)
Wrapped up the foil packets and placed them on a baking sheet (in case it tears, you don’t want this dripping in the bottom of your oven).
Baked these beauties for 10 minutes (no more, no less, exactly 10 minutes) at 450 degrees.
And there it is! Crab Legs that crack perfectly in half!
The big meaty pieces just pull right out, no digging in the shell trying to dig out stringy pieces of crab that are stuck.
If you get Snow Crab when it’s on sale this can be a relatively cheap date night at home. They usually go on sale around the holidays. Right now they are on sale at my local grocery store for $7.99 a pound, I’m guessing this is due to Valentine’s Day coming up!
I actually made these for my son’s 14th birthday. Snow Crab is his ultimate favorite meal, but I knew if we went out to eat this at a restaurant I would’ve ended up spending a whole lot of $$$ for this meal.
I purchased 2 lbs for us which was plenty (figure about a pound per person which is roughly 2 clusters). Served it with some mash potatoes, veggies, and gluten free garlic bread. I think the whole meal cost under $25!
Saving money makes me happy! 🙂
If you try this recipe let me know what you think! Leave a comment, rate it, share it on social media, or take a picture and tag it #tastefulventure on Instagram! I LOVE seeing what you guys cook up.
Bon Appetit!
Easy Baked Snow Crab
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 2-3 1x
- Category: Seafood
- Cuisine: Seafood, Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Snow Crab thawed
- 1/4 cup melted Butter
- 1 Tbs minced Garlic
- 2 Tbs Old Bay Seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place thawed Snow Crab on a large piece of tin foil (you may need to use 2 sheets of foil), place the clusters next to each other in a single layer.
- In a small bowl mix the melted Butter and Garlic.
- Brush Garlic Butter over Snow Crab.
- Sprinkle Old Bay Seasoning over Snow Crab.
- Carefull seal up the tin foil making sure not to puncture any holes in it with the crab.
- Place on a baking sheet in case of holes or leaks in the foil.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Serve with more melted butter for dipping.
- Enjoy!
Disclaimer: there are Amazon affiliate links in this post
Awesome recipe, thank you!! Snow Crab is my husband’s favorite! I had no idea it could be so easy. Can’t wait to try this tonight!
Great! Yes it’s super easy! 🙂
Great New Years Eve date night in the comfort of our home! Also bought mine on sale. Perfect!
So glad you liked it Ellen! Yes it’s perfect for date night:)
Perfect recipe for thawed snow crab that we didn’t prepare last night. Can’t wait to make today! Tnx and Happy New Year!
Enjoy! Happy New Year!
Would this work for 3 pounds of snow crab?
Yes just make sure they are single layered and not overlapping when cooking.
These were AMAZING, even without the old bay (grocery store was out). Better than any I’ve had at a restaurant, and like you said, way cheaper! Thanks again!
Awesome, so glad you liked it! Next time try it with Old Bay when it’s available, gives it a really unique flavor!
Definitely will!
Do u put them in frozen or thawed
Hey Phyllis, Make sure they are thawed first. I usually put them in the fridge a day before I want to cook them so they have time to thaw.
Thank You The Best I Ever Made Snow Crab Legs Flamingo polishes cook chicken breast and cajun shrimps mixed vegetables with corn 10 minutes in the oven wrapping heavy form Deelishis
🙂
Very good recipe..absolutely delicious and so simple!!
Thanks Sharon!
I never leave comments, but felt compelled to today. I have used this recipe many times. In fact, just took my crabs out of the fridge a few minutes ago. They were on sale for a great price I couldn’t pass up. I spray mine with Pam and sprinkle with Old Bay, granulated garlic and creole seasoning. Too lazy to brush with butter which is probably better. I follow your recipe for layering, wrapping and timing. Needless to say. PERFECTION!
Perfect!! Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome! 🙂
Do you slice open them open before adding the seasoning? Thanks.
Hi Lindsay, No just leave them as is. Once they are cooked and you crack them open you will taste the flavor inside!
wrap legs in some very damp paper towels and nuke for 2 minutes. Perfect.
Great. So easy. Made these on vacation. They are my favorite, never knew how to cook them. Thank you.
Hey Jo, Awesome so glad you liked them!
Last week I prepared them exactly as directed and they were phenomenal! A huge hit, so tonight I am serving them to a different crowd here at the beach. As easy as can be to cook and clean up is a snap. Delicious recipe. Thank you.
Thank you for this great comment Paulette! I’m glad y’all liked it:)
So simple and so amazing. I was fretting over how to prepare frozen crab because I was really looking forward to crab delicious-ness. This was simple and great. Thanks. Any ideas on frozen lobster?
Hi Ashley, so glad you liked it! I have a lobster recipe that you can check out here: https://tastefulventure.com/perfectly-broiled-lobster-tails/ 🙂
Thanks for sharing!! I tried this recipe tonight and I loved it. I added extra minced garlic because I wanted more garlic flavor. Next time, I am also going to try lemon pepper on it.
Awesome Sherry, thanks for the feedback!
Hello, Can I place the crab legs in a foil pan?
Hi Kean, the crab legs steam inside the sealed foil packet. If you use a foil pan, you would want to seal the top with aluminum foil.
Hello. Thank you for this recipe! Were your crab legs pre-cooked?
Hey Riley, you will need to cook the crab legs as directed, they’re not pre-cooked.
That’s wrong, crab is cooked immediately after being caught and then it is frozen.
The ones we buy at the store say they are pre-cooked before they freeze them.
All frozen crab comes pre-cooked, all you are doing is re-heating. No such thing as raw crab unless you work on boats!
Yep. Surprising how many people don’t know this.
Greetings from Houston! The crab clusters that we buy are always raw. This is how we prepare them every time. Perfection!
Yeah people be camping hard those are def pre cooked all grocers sell precooked frozen crab leg clusters they don’t come out the ocean like that 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 anddddd when they do come out the ocean they bare blue when they are raw 🙄🙄
I bought frozen crab legs. They are currently in the fridge being thawed. Do I just follow this recipe and enjoy? I want to make sure that I don’t undercooked them and get sick. Thanks so much!
Perfect, just follow the recipe and it’ll turn out great! Make sure your cook time is exactly what it says that way they are not under or over cooked. If they over cook they will get soggy and the shells are harder to crack open.
We had these this last Christmas Eve, the grocery had 2 lbs on clearance for $10! They were so perfect. We used minced garlic and it was really good. I think the key is following the tempature and time to a tee, and make sure the claws don’t poke through the foil.
Wow that’s a great deal on Crab!
Can’t wait to try this. Never make them at home because steaming them in pots on the stove makes such a mess and the pots are a pain to clean. Will be making these for sure. Thanks!
Made this today for my 10 year old son. He requested I leave the following review: you should all try this, it’s the best ever. If you don’t try it you’ll be sad and it’ll be your own fault!
Awe that’s so sweet! Tell him Thank You! 🙂
Thank you for posting an easy way to prepare snow crab legs. It is good to know, becuase I never want to buy and ruin them. They are awful if they are overcooked. I followed these steps and they came out great.
Yes I’m all about making cooking easy! Glad you liked it!
Hello! I have king crab legs. Should i do more than 10 minutes
Hi Tessa,
I have not tried this method with King Crab, I would say anywhere from 10-15 minutes for these.
I’m wondering, why butter and season a shell? It’s not like it goes in your mouth or goes through to the meat? I’ve saw a few recipes suggest this. And since you fouling them, doesn’t the moisture, in a sense, actually steam them? I just put them on a cookie sheet and plop them in the oven. No mess no waste.
Hi Teri, The butter and seasoning really give the crab legs a wonderful flavor. Try it and let me know what you think!
Agree with all of the above comments: this is a great, easy recipe with lots of room to experiment and make it your own. I use some high quality olive oil, Tony Sachere’s (Cajun seasoning), and make brown butter for dipping sauce, which REALLY knocks the flavor out of this world. Thanks for the great recipe!
Thanks for the great feedback Melissa!!!
I can’t believe how wonderful these are. After years of steaming them in big pots( what a mess to clean the pots) I started cooking them in the oven, sometimes okay, sometimes not so much. These are perfect every time. Great technique & recipe!
Thanks for the great feedback Lisa! Yes this is so much easier and less messy, it’s the only way I make them now:)
How would I want it for a crowd, like 10 lbs. ?
Hi Linda, It really depends on the people you are feeding and what you are serving with the crab legs. If they are crab lovers I would go with maybe 1 1/2 pounds per person. If you have some big eaters you might want to go with 2 pounds per person. If you are serving other things with this meal and your guests are not big eaters, then you might be able to get by with 1 pound per person.
Be sure to let me know how it all turns out!
If i use frozen crab but dont have the time to thaw how long should i cook them
I would try 10-15 minutes for frozen crab.
I’m using frozen crab as well I’m adding corn ears and potatoes. Should I have water in the pot with everything I don’t want the corn dried out
Sounds yummy….would you need to cook longer for King Crab?
You could definitely cook King Crab the same way. Cooking time will depend on the size of the claws. The internal temperature of the crab should be 160 degrees F. You can check the temp at the base of the claw at the joint.
I made the recipe, following the directions. It was delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe, it’s a keeper!
Thank you:)
Yum! And you are so right that baking is the way to go!
Thank you Jane!
I don’t know how to post an original comment here. But I just made this using 1 pound of snow crab legs. And just halved the butter and seasoning. I cooked them in my air fryer at 400 for 10 minutes and they came out perfect. I will always cook them this way from now on. Thank you so much for this great recipe!
I never thought to bake crab legs. I wanted some tonight and came across this prep method.
I thawed 5 clusters (I stock up when it’s on sale), put 3 in one disposable pan (9×13), 2 in the other.
In a small pot, I simmered some minced garlic until fragrant. I added a 1/2 stick of butter and let it simmer. Brushed the mixture over the clusters and dusted with Old Bay. Wrapped them tight with foil.
Baked at 450° for 10 minutes.
Served with the other half stick of melted butter.
Paired with some seasoned diced potatoes tossed in butter flavored EVOO, dried rosemary, smoked paprika, course ground kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, garlic and onion powder, as well as some Lancaster PA sweet corn we blanched, cut, and froze, and it was delicious!
Also went well with a nice dry Rosé.
Thank you for sharing this method. So much easier than boiling.
If frozen takes 20-25 minutes. Very good recipe